University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball
3/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 1, 2010
This Week in Southern Miss Baseball
March 1, 2010
This Week's Schedule
Monday 3/1: No Practice/Day Off
Tuesday 3/2: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Wednesday 3/3: Louisiana Monroe at Southern Miss - 6:30 p.m.
Thursday 3/4: Practice at Pete Taylor Park
Friday 3/5: Southern Miss at La.- Lafayette- 6:30 p.m.
Saturday 3/6: Southern Miss at La.- Lafayette - 2:00 p.m.
Sunday 3/7: Southern Miss at La.- Lafayette - 1:00 p.m.
*All practice dates and times are tentative and subject to change without prior notice
TWIB Notes
· Southern Miss has scored 10 runs or more in four of the teams seven games while have 10 or more hits in six games
· Scott Copeland threw seven complete innings while striking out a career high seven batters in route to his first win on Saturday
· In midweek action on Wednesday Southern Miss clobbered Mississippi Valley State 20-2 with nine different Golden Eagles getting hits and 12 different players scoring at least one run
· The black and gold have already tuned 13 double plays through the first seven games of 2010. They led the nation last year with 83 twin-killings.
· The Golden Eagles have scored 66 runs on 86 hits, 25 for extra bases, in the first seven games
· The pitching staff has recorded 52 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .224 average and a .322 slugging percentage
· Southern Miss has totaled 23, 103 fans through the first seven home games, which is ranked ninth in the nations for total attendance. An average of 3,300 is ranked 12th in the country.
The Week's Opponents
Southern Miss will host Louisiana Monroe in midweek action on Wednesday. The Warhawks are currently 2-3 including a loss to Northwestern State, the same team that visited Pete Taylor Park opening weekend.
The two teams have been playing since 1949 with Southern Miss holding a 40-15 all-time advantage, including winning seven of the last 10.
As a team La. Monroe is hitting .242 with six doubles, two triples and five home runs. The pitching staff post a 9.66 ERA allowing 53 runs over 41 innings while striking out and walking 33 hitters.
RHP Josh Miller is expected to start for La. Monroe. He is 1-1 with a 20.25 ERA allowing nine hits and nine runs in four innings along with two walks and three strikeouts.
The Golden Eagles will hit the road for the first time over the weekend as they travel to Louisiana-Lafayette for a three game series. ULL is currently 5-1 after taking two of three from Miami-Ohio this past weekend and sweeping Nicholls State opening weekend.
The Cajuns' are hitting .294 over the first six games with 16 doubles, three triples and five home runs. The pitching staff has a minuscule ERA of 0.96 allowing only six earned runs through the first six contests. They have fanned 52 batters while walking only 10.
Southern Miss and ULL first met on the diamond in 1925. The Golden Eagles have taken two-of -three from the Cajuns each of the last two years and won seven of the last 10 contest vs. ULL.
In The Polls
After spending the first to weeks of the season in the top 25 Southern Miss fell from the polls this week. The Golden Eagles have been ranked as high as No. 21 this season.
Around Conference USA
EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates defeated No. 10 South Carolina twice over the weekend, their first-ever regular season series win vs. the Gamecocks. Junior RHP Seth Simmons notched his12 career save (fourth all-time at ECU) in the finale on Sunday. In Saturday's game he picked up the win and improved to 6-1 all-time. In five 2010 appearances, he sports a 0.00 ERA in 5.1 innings with eight strikeouts and three walks and has allowed just two hits. Junior RHP Zach Woods made his first collegiate start for the Pirates against Old Dominion last Wednesday and struck out a career-best eight hitters and walked one .Junior SS Dustin Harrington extended his hitting streak to 15 games during a six hit week. Senior DH Kyle Roller had a pair of home runs last week to push his career total to 41. Against ODU, he smacked a three-run homer and was plunked twice to become the only person in school history to hit 40 home runs and have been hit 40 times in his career. Roller is also the only active player in college baseball to reach this feat.
HOUSTON
The Cougars earned a series win against Santa Clara over the weekend with victories on Friday and Saturday. Houston's offense exploded in the series opener, as the Cougars recorded 20 hits, including at least one in each of the first six innings, in a 17-9 win. Sophomore 1B/P Matt Creel and junior OF Caleb Ramsey each went 4-for-6 at the plate to lead Houston. Creel had a career-high seven RBI to go along with a double and triple. On the season, he is hitting .481 (13-for-27) with three doubles, a triple and nine RBI. Creel also picked up a win on the mound on Saturday with two innings of scoreless relief. Sophomore RHP Michael Goodnight earned the Friday night victory with eight strikeouts in five innings. Junior OF Joey Ansley led the Cougars to a 3-2 win on Saturday night by going 3-for-4 at the plate with two hits and an RBI. He scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth with a leadoff single, followed by a stolen base attempt that led to a throwing error that allowed him to score the winning run from first base.
MARSHALL
The Thundering Herd went 2-1 at the Charleston Crab House Shootout, defeating Radford and St. Joseph's, but falling to The Citadel. Senior OF Kurt Lipton collected three hits, including a home run, while junior RHP Arik Sikula (three hitless innings) and senior RHP Austin Coan combined to pitch four scoreless innings of relief in Friday's 3-2 win over Radford. Junior OF Ben Jurevicius, making his first start of the season, chipped in with a pair of hits, including a double and two runs scored. Sophomore OF Eric Semeniuk smashed two homers and junior IF James Lavinskas connected for a solo shot to propel Marshall over Saint Joseph's, 10-2, on Sunday. Semeniuk and Lavinskas combine to score six runs, knock in five and collect four extra-base hits, including the first homers of their MU careers. Sophomore Mike Mason earned the victory on Sunday as the southpaw tied career-highs for innings pitched (6.0) and strikeouts (6), while surrendering two earned runs.
MEMPHIS
The Tigers finished 1-2 at the Service Academies Classic in Millington, Tenn. Memphis dropped decisions to Toledo and Pittsburgh before rebounding with a win over Bradley. Junior LHP Ryan Holland put together a career-best performance to help Memphis to a 3-2 extra-inning win over Bradley on Sunday. In his first start of the 2010 season, the junior struck out a personal-best 10 batters, walked one and held the Braves to just five hits in six innings. Holland became the first Tiger to record 10 K's in a game since Phillip Utley had 10 vs. UCF in 2006. Sophomore IF Chad Zurcher hit .429 last week and led the team in hits (6), runs scored (3), home runs (1), RBI (5) and total bases (9). He collected multiple hits in two of the three contests and swiped four bases. He was instrumental in the win over Bradley, accounting for two of the club's three runs, scoring one run and driving in another. Zurcher was a perfect 3-for-3 (career-high) in the stolen base category in Sunday's win. Sophomore IF Jacob Wilson is batting .435 on the season with a double, a homer and four RBI. Memphis has stolen a league-high 15 bases on the season, an average of 2.5 per game.
RICE
Rice was 3-1 last week with victories over Elon, Nebraska and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. All three wins were part of the program's annual home tournament, the Rice Invitational. One area Rice turned it around was batting with runners on base, including runners in scoring position. Last week as a team, the Blue & Gray went 22-for-62 (.355) with men on base and 16-of-44 (.364) with runners in scoring position. Sophomore 3B Anthony Rendon went 5-for-11 (.455) with a double and a game-winning RBI in the bottom of the eighth inning against Nebraska. He was walked six times in the four games for a .647 on-base percentage. For the season, the Houston native is now 8-for-19 (.421) with 11 walks.Sophomore LF Michael Fuda continues his pace as the Owls' hottest hitter of the young season. Not only is he leading the team with a .481 batting average (13-for-27), he's already knocked two home runs, two triples and a double for an .889 slugging percentage. Fuda has hit safely in every game this season and actually owns an 11-game hitting streak dating back to last season. True freshman RHP Tyler Duffey leads the Owls' pitching staff in strikeouts. In the first 5.1 innings of his Division I career, Duffey already has nine strikeouts and has held opposing hitters to a composite .167 batting average.
SOUTHERN MISS
The Golden Eagles were 2-2 last week. Sophomore SS B.A Vollmuth led the Southern Miss offense over the week, hitting .533 (8-15) with three doubles and a home run. In the four outings, he scored five runs and drove in five. In Saturday's game vs. LeMoyne Vollmuth recorded a career high four hits, going 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI. In addition to his eight hits he also drew two walks and was hit by a pitch for a .611 on base percentage. Senior RHP Scott Copeland threw seven complete innings while striking out a career high seven batters en route to his first win on Saturday. He was perfect the first time through the Dolphin order, striking out five consecutive batters in the second and third inning. In midweek action on Wednesday Southern Miss clobbered Mississippi Valley State, 20-2 with nine different Golden Eagles getting hits and 12 different players scoring at least one run. Southern Miss has scored 10 runs or more in four of the teams seven games while registering 10 or more hits in six games. Southern Miss fell behind 9- 1 on Sunday, but rallied to almost pull the game out, falling 12-11. The Black and Gold have already tuned 13 double plays through the first seven games of 2010. They led the nation last year with 83 twin-killings. The Golden Eagles have scored 66 runs on 86 hits, 25 for extra bases, in the first seven games.
TULANE
The Green Wave increased its win streak to five games with a weekend sweep of Lipscomb. Freshman Blake Crohan continued his early season tear, extended his career-opening hitting streak to seven games. He was 9-for-18 (.500) last week with a double, three RBI and three runs scored. Crohan reached base three times in each contest, reaching on an error in the third game, and crossed the plate in each contest. Between game one and two of the series, Blake reached base safely in six straight plate appearances and never had back-to-back plate appearances without reaching base. Junior RHP Conrad Flynn now owns a team-best .163 batting average against to go along with a 2.57 earned run average for the season, tying him with freshman RHP Kyle McKenzie for tops on the squad. He has struck out 17 batters and walked only one, while surrendering just eight hits in 14 innings on the mound. Sophomore 3B Rob Segedin is off to an impressive start after missing nearly all of last season with an injury. After recording multiple hits in each game against Lipscomb, he is batting .393 (11-for-28) with two doubles, a triple, a home run and seven RBI. Senior RHP Matt Petiton picked up his first win of the season with a strong outing in Saturday's 10-1 victory, striking out seven and allowing just one run on three hits over seven innings pitched.
UAB
The Blazers won the final three games of their series against Ball State, including a doubleheader sweep on Saturday. Senior RHP Beau Pender and senior RHP Nick Graffeo combined to shut out Ball State 6-0 in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. Pender worked the first seven innings and allowed only two hits, while Graffeo held the Cardinals scoreless on one hit over the final two frames. It marked the first combined shutout for UAB since March 14, 2009 against Harvard. Pender was the UAB starter in that game, which was the first game of a Saturday doubleheader. Senior SS Jonathan Merritt hit a grand slam as part of a six-RBI game in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader with Ball State. It was the first Blazer grand slam since Andrew Manning hit one against East Carolina on April 4, 2008. Merritt's final RBI on the day came on a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning that sent game two of Saturday's doubleheader into extra innings. The Blazers went on to win in twelve frames in the team's first extra-inning game in more than a year. The Blazers' last extra-inning game was a 10-inning loss at UCF on May 9, 2008. Freshman RHP Ben Bullard earned a win in his first collegiate appearance on Saturday, throwing 3.1 hitless innings with four strikeouts.
UCF
UCF posted its second straight weekend sweep, knocking off Siena three times this past weekend. The Knights have collected at least 11 hits in each game this year, and posted 38 in the three-game series vs. Siena. UCF has consistently been using four freshmen in its starting lineup this year. C/DH Chris Taladay leads the offense with a .500 average, Austin Johnston has a team-best six doubles, OF Ronnie Richardson has four steals and 11 walks as the leadoff man and SS Darnell Sweeney also has four steals. UCF has 13 stolen bases through seven games in 2010. The Knights had just 24 all of last year. A total of eight Knights are batting at least .308 on the year, highlighted by Taladay (.500), Beau Taylor (.485) and Chris Duffy (.480). Last week, Taladay went 8-for-16 for a .500 average with six runs, four doubles, five RBI and a homer. Taladay fell one double shy of tying the school record in Sunday's win, notching three doubles in a 3-for-4 game with three runs scored. Duffy's hitting streak has reached
Awards and Honors
C-USA Pitcher of the Week
Todd McInnis (2/22)
Johnny Bench Award Watch List
PRESEASON
Conference USA Preseason Pitcher of the Year
C-USA Coaches and Baseball America
NCBWA Preseason All-American
Baseball America Preseason All-American
BA Vollmuth
Ping! Baseball Preseason All-American
All-Conference USA
(Selected by C-USA Coaches)
Baseball America All-Conference Team
SEBaseball.com All-Conference First Team
SEBaseball.com All-Conference Second Team
Following the Golden Eagles
WXHB (96.5 FM in Hattiesburg) will once again serve as the flagship station for the Golden Eagle baseball program this spring. Joining the ISP Sports Network this season will be WFFF (96.7 FM and 1360 AM in Columbia).
Both WXHB and WFFF will carry the full schedule this season.
Joining the network for all 24 Conference USA Games and selected mid-week games will be WAOY (91.7 FM in Gulfport), WRBE (106.9 FM and 1440 AM in Lucedale) and WGVM (1260 AM in Greenville).
The selected midweek games include March 23 vs. Ole Miss, April 7 vs. LSU, April 20 at Ole Miss, May 5 vs. Mississippi State and May 18 vs. Mississippi State.
The entire ISP Sports network would also carry any postseason game for the 2010 season including the C-USA Tournament and the NCAA postseason.
In addition, audio will be available for every game and video for all home games at southernmiss.com through the CBS College Sports All-Access subscription service.
Veteran broadcaster John Cox will call his 28th season of Southern Miss baseball in 2010
This Week at "The Pete"
Southern Miss host La. Monroe on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m.
**All Promotions and dates are subject to change and availability**
Tickets
Individual game tickets can be purchased through the Pat Ferlise Athletic Ticket Office on West 4th St., from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, over the phone at 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or online at SouthernMiss.com. The Pete Taylor Park ticket office will open approximately two hours prior to first pitch.
Also, season tickets packages are still available in the reserved bleacher and general admission sections but the reserved chair back seats have already been sold out.
Discounted group tickets are also available for groups of 10 or more. For more information on bringing your group to "The Pete" contact Brain Morrison at 601.266.6866
Game Day Weather Hotline
For the latest information on weather related issues concerning Southern Miss home events call the Southern Miss gameday hotline at 601.266.7411. The number will be updated constantly in situations where weather could affect games.
